And Love Said No, 2008 &
That Darkness Shall Be Eternal, 2007
Hannalena Heiska (1973 FI)
Trained at Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Lives and works in Helsinki
In Hannaleena Leiska’s paintings we meet fabulous figures – cross-overs between humans and animals. The creatures and objects that people her works are often given detailed painted decoration, for instance tattoos or floral adornment. The backgrounds and the landscapes serve to express shifting atmospheres and are frequently painted in restrained tones. Characteristic of Heiska’s technique is that she works the paint rapidly and leaves clear traces in the form of scrapings and sweeping brushstrokes. She makes no preparatory sketches and each painting is created in a single intuitive flow.
In Finland heavy-metal music is extremely popular and to Hannaleena Heiska it comes close to being the new Finnish folk music. Masks are often a feature of that culture and this inspires Heiska when shaping the heads of her figures.
Heiska’s art includes references to film, kitsch, and Gothic culture but also to symbolism and the atmospheric painting typical of Nordic art around the year 1900. She employs a host of other forms of expression including video and installation, and has a background as street artist in a graffiti tradition.
Blaze in the Northern Sky, 2008
Oil on mdf, 130 x 120 cm
And Love Said No, 2008
Oil on mdf, 110 x 90 cm
A Secret Place II, 2008
Oil on mdf, 110 x 90 cm
Snowblind(s), 2008
Oil on mdf, 110 x 90 cm
That Darkness Shall Be Eternal, 2007
Oil on mdf, 130 x 120 cm